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Takamura Mamoru
Takamura Mamoru (鷹村 守'' lit. takamura mamoru'') is a deuteragonist in Hajime no Ippo. His influence on the story rivals those of Coach Kamogawa's and Miyata Ichirou's; all three inspire Makunouchi Ippo to continue boxing. He is a multi-weight class (currently middleweight) hybrid boxer affiliated with the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. He is the current WBC Middleweight champion and strongest known character in the series. His surname is Takamura. In Japan, surnames are listed before given names. History Background Takamura is revealed to be the estranged middle son of the famous Takamura Development company, supported by his older sister Kyoka and younger brother Wataru. His eldest brother, Suguru, a former rugby standoff (it is revealed that Suguru is a model of impressive physical and competitive standing, much like Mamoru), constantly belittles his vast boxing accomplishments and carries on the stigma that Takamura is simply a thug that thrives on beating up others. Before his title match with Bryan Hawk, Takamura meets with Suguru, where Suguru offers him a job at the family business when "he is done beating people up." It is later revealed during Mamoru's fight with Hawk that Suguru is very proud of his brother's triumphs and was simply offering him a job because he cares for Mamoru and wishes him to have a more reliable and less threatening future. Despite the Takamura family's impressive wealth, Mamoru lives off of his own earnings as a pro boxer. Joining the Kamogawa Gym As Coach Kamogawa is walking the streets of Tokyo one night, he witnesses a brutal beating being dealt to a number of delinquents by Mamoru Takamura. Kamogawa takes it as nothing but a senseless fight between delinquents until Takamura unknowingly executes a pro-class punch right in front of him. Takamura is then stopped by Kamogawa before proceeding with the fight as he did not want him to kill anybody. After being body checked by the coach, Takamura is then offered to box at the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. Takamura does not like the idea of fighting with rules, but decides to do it anyway proclaiming that "it can kill some time." Takamura is taken to the gym and he immediately begins working the bag, leaving Miyata Sr., Yagi, Shinoda, and Kamogawa in awe. He is then taken to run a course as guided by the coach. Takamura had only desired to hit people and bailed on the Kamogawa Gym after. Kamogawa, not sure if Takamura would show up of his own free will, shows up at his house for several days ready to train him. Along with roadwork and pulling his scooter, Kamogawa forbids Takamura from using his right and to only work the bag with his left, going so far as to tape his right to his body. Unfortunately, Kamogawa ends up getting sick from waiting on Takamura in the rain one day and does not show up the day after, much to Takamura's pleasure. He, however decides to train himself of his own free will after being forced to do it prior to Kamogawa's absence. After days and days of training, Takamura has his first match set up for him in three months time. Takamura has a hard time dealing with this as he is facing against a pro straight out of high school. However, once in the ring, Takmura realizes how the training has affected him and KOs his opponent in under a minute. It is then that Takamura declares to take Kamogawa to the world. Meeting Ippo One day during road work, Takamura sees high school student Makunouchi Ippo getting beaten by Umezawa Masahiko and his friends. Takamura intervenes, driving the bullies away and reluctantly taking an unconscious Ippo to the gym. There he expresses his disliking for both bullies and those who simply let themselves be bullied. In order to make the frustrated Ippo feel better before leaving, he teaches him how to do a straight and encourages him to defend himself next time. Noticing his well-built body and incredible strength, Takamura gives Ippo a video showing a collection of Mike Tyson's knockouts, in an attempt to encourage him to practice boxing as a way of learning self-defense and relieve his stress. After these events, Ippo asks Takamura to help him become a professional boxer instead of just simply a continuous student at the gym. Disturbed at the idea of someone taking boxing lightly, Takamura presents Ippo with a challenge; if he can catch ten falling leaves from a tree with his jabs within one week, Takamura will agree to help him. After Ippo successfully passes the test, Takamura gives him a training menu to follow for a month before taking him to the gym. Upon introducing Ippo to the members, Takamura is scolded by Kamogawa, who thinks Ippo is no boxing material. They ultimately decide to let Ippo spar against boxing prodigy, Miyata Ichirou, in order to determine whether or not he has a future in the sport. Takamura serves as Ippo's second during the fight, advising him on different strategies and moves that get Ippo to the third round before being knocked out. Despite losing, they are able to gain the coach's approval and Ippo becomes a member of the gym. Road to JBC title As an All Japan Rookie King with an impeccable record and ranked fifth in his weight class by the JBC, Takamura had the opportunity to face Hirano Kazuhiko who was ranked third. Despite his harsh diet, Takamura was able to easily defeat the more experienced fighter, and immediately get ranked first in Japan. Before his next match, Takamura helped Ippo with his training twice. The first time, leading up to the East Japan Rookie King Tournament by helping him learning how to dodge hooks, which proved to be useful as it was the technique he used to defeat Ozuma. And a second time after his own title match was decided, by going to the beach along with Aoki and Kimura where they trained their feet and improved their stamina. When the day of his fight arrives, he wishes Ippo luck on the openers, and prepares himself for the match. Despite an organized cheering squad being there for the champion, Takamura has the support of most attendants. Motivated by his dream of achieving a world title, Takamura quickly rushes to his opponent as soon as the bell rings, but is received by a counter (thus touching the canvas for the first time in his career). At the count of eight he gets back up, and viciously knocks the champion out by shattering his, jaw. After being crowned, he celebrates that night at Sugar Ray Mission to conquer different weight classes. Takamura is on a personal quest to conquer 6 different weight classes (Junior Middleweight through Heavyweight), and is doing pretty well moving up the ladder. So far he has become champion in 2 out of 6 weight classes: 1. WBC Junior Middleweight Champion (154 lbs) 2. WBC Middleweight Champion (160 lbs) He is the current WBC World Middleweight Champion and former Junior Middleweight Champion. He was also the JBC Middleweight Champion, but relinquished it after 4 title defenses. He lives alone at the Ohta Inn apartment complex, and his room is littered with junk, old food, pornography, and even his Belts. He still lives there even after becoming World Champion, preferring a simple life. Match History Successions Appearance As of a stereotypical description of a japanese delinquent, Takamura dons a curly pompadour while wearing his school uniform in a more laid back style with a few of the top buttons loose. His eyebrows are considerably thick and he has a tough looking face. Even before joining the Kamogawa Gym, Takamura had a very refined physique and awesome strength. Along with the Kamogawa training regiment, his body is even more refined, having bulging biceps, bulging pecks, and a hardened 6-pack stomach. Even with his already strict training regiment and natural fitness, Takamura struggles to meet the weight qualifications of the Junior Middleweight Class. In order to do so, he starves and dehydrates himself as add-ons to his training. His appearance drastically changes when this happens; when confronted by Bryan Hawk, Hawk goes so far as to call him a mummy. His stomach and ribs show through his skin, he gets chapped lips and wrinkles, and his skin begins to peel off. While they are in a training camp with Nekota, he fought a bear and rendered it unconscious, the encounter resulted in the three scars visible on his chest during boxing matches. Nicknames, etc. Personality Takamura is brash, sadistic, and incredibly cocky. However, other dimensions of his personality have shone throughout the series, the culmination of which is a concerned, insightful, ambitious man. He is one of the most well-studied characters in the series, having on numerous occasions identified strategies and traits of different boxers in tangent with — and sometimes even ahead of — Coach Kamogawa. He has never fallen into an opponent's trap. Despite this, Takamura does not invent his own tactics during matches, which further exemplifies both his straightforward nature and his boxing talent. Because of this, while he's usually brash and devil-may-care both in the ring and outside of it, he is surprisingly pessimistic and level-headed when watching other boxers' matches, usually anticipating the difficulties his partners are going to encounter. When Nekota snuck up on him underwater as a joke while at the beach, he ran away in fear believing it to be a real ghost. He also had a very Umezu Kazuo-like face when Tomiko used tarot cards to accurately guess how many times he had masturbated after a fight. There was also an occurance where Takamura challenged Yagi to a fishing competition, resulting in a "No Takamura" sign to be put up next to a "No Yagi" sign. These are all indications of Takamura's deep belief in the supernatural and fear of the unknown. Even during important matches he has a tendency to play around, such as by using Aoki's "Look Away" technique, labeling a regular uppercut the Beetle's Uppercut in a fight where he wore a beetle costume, and arguing with the spectators when they mock him. In spite of all of this, he is the one who got Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura into boxing, he is well respected at the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. Even though he constantly looks down on and ridicules their achievements, his unrivaled strength and rare moments of kindness has earned him respect from his fellow boxing juniors. He has also occasionally shown concern for Miyata Ichirou and seems to genuinely look forward to Ippo's rematch with him (if it ever materializes). While Takamura says that most boxers are "small fries" and talks about them with patronizing contempt, Takamura seems to be genuinelly fond/proud of Ippo. He teases him much less than the others and in more than one ocassion has asserted that he and Ippo are on a different level than the rest of the boxers from the Kamogawa gym. Also, while he usually seems aloof and derisive of his coaches, it's shown (particularly during matches) that he thinks very highly of coach Kamogawa and his methods. Takamura seems to have unwavering trust on coach Kamogawa's teachings. Fighting Style Takamura is the strongest known fighter in the Hajime no Ippo series. He possesses a genius-level boxing talent, to such an extent that Kamogawa Genji stated he was already stronger than the JBC Middleweight Champion when he was first found on the streets, and would've been capable of taking the World Title with or without the Coach's teachings. In his title matches, Takamura showcased incredible power, speed, and durability through the guidance of Kamogawa. Takamura has an extremely destructive fighting style, focusing on constant huge swings that could KO any fighter, if not even kill them. ' ' Counters are ineffective against him because most of his swings must be either dodged or met in an exchange, an exchange nobody dares to risk. This fighting style goes hand-in-hand with Takamura's agressive personality, his ego and his unbeatable arrogance. His anger in fact has such an influence on driving him in each of his fights that one could say anger is ''the core of his fighting style. He has been shown to be the perfect combination of technique and instinct, being able to match world champion Bryan Hawk using both. However, brawling is noted to be his natural and most powerful style. As a veteran boxer, Takamura (unlike many other characters) knows that aiming for the opponent's weakness is not a "dirty move". He has done and expressed it in several occasions. Techniques *Orthodox Style *Brawling Style *Counter *Sway *Bear Slayer Punch *Look Away variation: Full-Body Look Away (Used once) *Beetle's Uppercut *Liver Blow *Speed Hell Weaknesses Takamura's one weakness is his arrogance and temper, as he is able to be easily provoked by many of his opponents or feels the need to perform one punch KOs. Like Miyata, Takamura is constantly struggling with weight control, so he is prone to losing stamina slightly quicker due to fighting in weight-classes below his natural weight. Aside from that the only times Takamura has been in trouble is when an opponent reads his attacks, but he just keeps trying until he finds a way to connect. Gallery Vlcsnap-2012-06-21-22h06m10s113.png|Takamura farting. 266895_-_Hajime_no_Ippo_Ippo_Makunouchi_Mamoru_Takamura.png|Takamura often teases Ippo about his nakedness. Screen Shot 2013-09-27 at 7.20.46 PM.png|Takamura's first ring out, after seeing Bryan infront of him. 71.jpeg|Takamura fighting the bear! 53.jpeg|Takamura's win over the bear. 58.jpeg|Takamura's fighting stance. 60.jpeg|Takamura's great performance, after he snapped ready to take out Bryan Hawk with a punch he can remember. Takamura training....jpeg|Takamura in his training suit. Takamura…3.jpeg|Takamura ready to fight. Snapped!.png Down!.png Takamura…1.jpeg|Takamura and the WBC Middleweight belt. Takamura.png|After winning his first title match, he came to the gym with richer clothes. ez4.gif|Takamura boxing atire Quotes *"This is Makunouchi Ippo. He will be a member of this gym starting today."'' - Episode 2, introducing Ippo to the Kamogawa Boxing Gym *''"I didn't have anything else to do. I just sorta started doing it... And then, when the applause came pouring down, it was the greatest feeling."'' - Episode 8, telling Ippo how and why he started boxing *''"The Japanese Title is just a stepping stone for me. What I really want is to become World Champion."'' - Episode 17 Trivia *It's been brought up many times by Itagaki that it seems that Takamura is rushing to get his six weight classes. *Takamura is largely based on the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, who is frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all-time. *Takamura has been in attendance for all of Ippo's matches. **He also played Ippo's second during Ippo's very first spar at the gym, and refereed Ippo's second spar against Miyata. *Aside from KOing a bear, Takamura has also defeated a troupe of wild monkeys and lifted a small truck without breaking a sweat. *If you look at Takamura's matches, many of his opponents' names have something to do with animals; most likely in contrast with his name, which means "Hawk". **If you look even more closely, his opponent's names also are an pun to famous character like mickey mouse, donald duck, peter rabbit, etc. **Because Takamura's name means "Hawk" in Japanese, his match against Bryan Hawk contained the self-generated pun Hawk vs Hawk, hence the official title being "The Battle of Hawk". *Takamura's Japanese voice actor also voices Captain Yamato in Naruto: Shippuden and Stark from Bleach. Full list of roles here. *Takamura has no prominent love interests in the series, but on one occasion Ippo visited his house and overheard numerous women berating him on his answering machine about previous dates and engagements. *In chapter 944 in the manga, Takamura singlehandedly took down Date, Sendou, Mashiba, Saeki and Okita in the bar right after the match with Peter Rabbitson. *Takamura is technically responsible for inspiring every professional boxer in the Kamogawa Boxing Gym to join. Revenge against Takamura was the reason for which Aoki Masaru and Kimura Tatsuya joined the gym. He was also the person who brought Ippo (who was the reason for Itagaki Manabu joining) to the gym. *It is revealed by Ippo that Takamura has smelly feet. *It is stated by the commentator than Takamura had his first down in his first title match. *He normally does his roadwork around 6 a.m. Ch.1073, p.9 References Category:Boxers Category:Middleweights Category:Hybrid Boxers Category:Male characters Category:Orthodox Boxers Category:Junior Middleweights Category:Characters from Japan Category:Genius Boxers Category:Kamogawa Boxing Gym Category:Characters from Tokyo Category:Active boxers Category:Characters Category:Takamura Family